I say fantasy because when you read words like "I won't ever do...." or "I know my life will..." your heart breaks because you know the time will come when "they will do" or "Their life won't be what they envisioned".
I made a decision not to burst those bubbles. Children need to feel positive and empowered. It's not a parent's job to keep them down - life issues will handle that extremely well. Instead, it is our job to give them wings.
Over the last few months I've been gripped in the process of experiencing life's attacks on my own personal wings. It seems I've been thrown every road block possible. I've had to take the time to re-evaluate, spend time with God and redirect my efforts.
In the process I've learned something deeper. I've learned that it's not the wings that make us powerful....it's the struggle to build the wings that make us powerful.
I once heard a story of a lady who had a big window over her sink. One spring she looked in the corner and saw a cocoon. For days, every time she washed dishes - she watched a butterfly struggle to get out of his cocoon. She prayed for the butterfly. She tapped on her window thinking it would inspire the butterfly. She even tried to push a little food near the cocoon thinking it might be hungry. Every time she watched, the butterfly seemed to work and work but very little was done.
When only two small strands still blocked the entryway, her compassion got the better of her. The lady took a pair of scissors and snipped the two strings. Thinking she was now part of the process she was excited when the butterfly drifted out of the cocoon and landed on her porch. She giggled with pride and waited for it to fly. The butterfly fluttered his wings for a few minutes and then became very still. The lady tip toed into her kitchen hoping to finally see him fly away. Within 20 minutes he dropped over and died.
She was heartbroken. She called a friend who sent her deeper into tears. "By cutting the strings you sealed his death. There's a special liquid that must cover the wings in order for the butterfly to be able to fly. It's squeezing through the narrow opening that pushes that liquid from the body and onto the wings. By making the process easier, the wings weren't coated and the butterfly couldn't fly."
As writer's, God has challenged us to make a difference in this world. We are called to explain, instruct and inspire. We can't share our wisdom with the world until we have also been through the fire. We must explain our own lives. We must follow the instructions for our own lives. We must fight our way through the darkest tunnel until we find our own inspiration. Only then can we turn and shout with confidence, "Listen to me....here's what I've learned."
No matter what you are facing today or how bleak the road ahead.....be determined to "Experience Life" so you can turn and share it with others. Be careful not to wish it away or to refuse to learn from God. Pay attention and try to learn all you can from your own experiences. That is our holy calling. That is our mission.
God loves you and has called you to write,
Debbie
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